Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Snapshot Of The Religious Right

The Religious Right was out last weekend, protesting at the funerals of two Tennessee National Guardsmen killed in Iraq and taunting the mourners with cries of "god hates fags" and "god hates you." The protestors, from Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, contend that Iraq war deaths are America's punishment for allowing freedom for gay people.

Westboro Baptist Church Protestor

While they have every right to protest – no matter how twisted their views – it is revealing that these people who are so much a part of the "culture of life" should be so hateful to families simply trying to bury their dead.

I'm with Danny Cotton, who attended a protest to counter the Westboro crowd and said "If they were protesting the government, I might even join them. But for them to come during the worst time for this family — it's just wrong."

Amen, brother.

Oh, and by the way, Republicans: This is why we have that pesky separation of church and state that you dislike so much.

Political writer Bob Geiger is the award-winning author of the Yellow Dog Blog and BobGeiger.com and specializes in coverage of the U.S. Senate. He won the 2005 Weblog Awards prize for Best New Blog and was a finalist in the Koufax Awards in 2005 for his column "I Know This Little Boy in New Orleans."

He is the coauthor of The Real McCain and his work has appeared in the San Francisco Examiner, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the New York Journal News. A contributing writer to The Huffington Post and Alternet, Bob also makes appearances to comment on Senate activity on many popular radio programs.